The First Change
by The 18th Angel
Summary: (Werewolf: The Apocalypse) Miriam just learned that she's a monster...and that's the good news!
1. One

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Legal Stuff: I don't own Werewolf: the Apocalypse. I'm not actually sure who does own it these days, but I know it's someone at White Wolf. Anyway, most of the characters in this story (with the exception of a few cameos by White Wolf's signature characters) are my own creations. But the world they inhabit is not.  
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* * * * *  
  
The First Change  
  
by 18th Angel  
  
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Chapter 1  
  
* * * * *  
  
Miriam was dreaming about wolves again. She was sure Freud could have come up with an absurdly sexual explanation for a teenaged girl constantly dreaming about wolves. Personally, she figured it was the fact that lunch had just ended. Seeing a bunch of guys tearing into the school cafeteria's mystery meat always reminded Miriam of nature shows where wolves or lions gathered around and devoured a bloody carcass. Of course, that didn't explain why, in her dreams, *she* was usually one of the wolves; chasing the prey, bringing it down, and...well it got pretty nasty from there.  
  
Though Miriam only inflicted harm in the dreams, never suffering injury herself, they still scared the hell out of her. Mostly she was scared by the fact that she was never scared in the dream itself. In fact, she felt...free, more alive than ever when she dreamt of running on four legs. That alone was enough to make her wish the dreams would just go away, and to make her avoid sleep as much as possible. The only reason she still slept in class at all was because disturbing wolf dreams were preferable to school.  
  
"MISS FOSTER!" A hand slammed down on her desk. Miriam jerked awake to the sound of her classmate's laughter. "You may think that being a genius exempts you from paying attention in class. Let me disabuse you of that notion right now." Her teacher turned and made his way back to the blackboard.  
  
"Thanks Foster." The boy sitting next to her leaned over and whispered. "That was the funniest thing I've seen all morning."  
  
"What? There aren't any mirrors in your house?" Miriam snapped back a little too loudly.  
  
"That's it!" The teacher yelled, turning back to face her. "Get out!"  
  
"But..."  
  
"You've disrupted my class for the last time!"  
  
"But I..." Miriam tried to protest.  
  
"Office! NOW!"  
  
Her ears burned as she made her way out of the classroom. The jocks in the front row were still snickering when the door closed behind her. Out in the quiet hallway, Miriam sank against the wall, fighting back tears. It wasn't fair, she'd done nothing wrong, and if she showed up in the office *again* there would be hell to pay. But she only had two choices that she could see. She could go back into the classroom and try to argue the point with Mr. Lee, thereby confirming her classmates' belief that she was a whiny, argumentative, know-it-all bitch; or she could just face the music and go to the office.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Ah, Miss Foster." Mrs. Stears, the Assistant Principal said dryly, looking up as Miriam entered her office. "Welcome back. I do so enjoy these little visits."  
  
Miriam remained silent and sat down.  
  
"What is it this time?" Mrs. Stears continued. "Disruptive behavior? Verbal abuse? Aggravated assault?" Mrs. Stears was the kind of person who never left you in the dark about whether or not she liked you. And, like most of the faculty and student body, she did not like Miriam.   
  
"The first one." Miriam replied. "And I was sleeping in class."  
  
"Well normally that would only merit a detention."  
  
"Normally?" Miriam asked.  
  
Mrs. Stears sighed. "Miriam, we're only a month into this semester and you've already been down here ten times. Eleven if you count today. I've got a borderline psychotic with a drug problem who's less of a thorn in my side. You seem like a nice girl, you're certainly the smartest student here." Miriam shrank a little at that. Everyone brought that up when they were disappointed with her. Why did a genius level IQ mean you had to be a model student? "How does a girl like you get in trouble so much?"  
  
"Look, I *am* a nice girl." Miriam said. "It's this school that sucks." That was the wrong answer and Miriam knew it. But whenever she felt she was being treated unfairly, her blood just started to boil and she was likely to say or do whatever was on her mind with no regard to the consequences. She didn't know why it happened but she wished it would stop.  
  
"Well you won't have to worry about that anymore." Mrs. Stears said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"It looks like eleven is your lucky number." She said, handing Miriam a Disciplinary sheet with a single box checked. "Congratulations. You're expelled."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"They expelled you for talking in class?" Miriam's aunt, Tina, asked.  
  
"Uh...not exactly." Miriam replied quietly, focusing her gaze on her shoes.  
  
"What do you mean 'Not exactly'. Her uncle Jacob demanded.  
  
"Well today was...kind of the last straw." She handed him the stack of papers Mrs. Stears had sent home with her.  
  
Her uncle read all of the reports, his expression growing progressively darker.   
  
"Two fights?" He finally yelled. "You were *fighting*? TWICE?"  
  
"Well...girls get into fights a lot more than people think."  
  
"With each other! Not with the football team!"  
  
"It wasn't the whole team, just three guys! And they had it coming!" Once again Miriam found a response she knew to be wrong and said it anyway.  
  
"Why haven't I seen any of these discipline reports until now?" He demanded.  
  
"Well I had this crazy idea that you might get mad so..."  
  
"Go to your room!" Her uncle yelled. He didn't seem mad at her but Miriam still got the distinct impression that doing as he said was a good idea. "We'll talk in the morning.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Miriam had always been a somewhat disobedient child. She tried to stay in her room, but she couldn't. After about an hour, she tiptoed downstairs, hoping to talk to her uncle, not that she had any idea what to say. She just wanted to make sure that her only living relatives weren't going to disown her. At the bottom of the stairs, just before she came around the corner into the living room, Miriam heard her aunt and uncle talking in hushed tones.  
  
"...you sure, Jacob?" Her aunt was asking.  
  
"Pretty sure." He replied.  
  
"She just got into a fight."  
  
"She didn't *just* fight three football players, Tina. She beat them into the ground. She's starting to Change."  
  
"She's always been...troubled." Tina said desperately.  
  
"Yes. And now it's getting worse."  
  
"But she's...just a normal girl..." Her aunt was on the verge of tears.  
  
"You know she's not." Jacob said grimly. "She's my sister's daughter. She's going to Change, just like Eve did." Miriam was shocked, not by the actual words, for she didn't quite understand what they meant, but by the mention of her mother. Uncle Jacob had only ever mentioned his sister once or twice in all the time Miriam could remember. And this was the first time he had ever said her name.  
  
"We have no choice." He continued. "I'm going to call Aaron."  
  
That seemed to be the end of the conversation. Miriam quickly tiptoed back to her room before she was caught eavesdropping. That night she couldn't sleep at all. She lay on her bed, fully clothed, remembering her aunt and uncle's conversation. One thing was for sure; they hadn't wanted her to hear it. They had sent her to her room and then talked in whispers. But it was what they had talked about that frightened her.  
  
What did her uncle mean by 'Change'? She could practically hear him capitalizing the word every time he had said it. Whatever it was, it had upset Aunt Tina immensely. Miriam was a smart girl, and when her intelligence wasn't making her the object of ridicule, it could actually be quite useful. She was determined to figure out what was going on.  
  
Her uncle was talking about a Change that had happened to her mother, obviously some time before her death in a plane crash years before. Her aunt was tearfully trying to convince herself that Miriam was just a normal girl. Putting two and two together, Miriam arrived at a disturbing conclusion. At some time in the past, her mother had changed into something else, perhaps even something dangerous. She probably hadn't died in a plane crash after all, but rather, as a result of this mysterious Change. But not before passing the abnormality on to her daughter.  
  
Now Miriam was about to Change, whatever that meant, and her Uncle was calling someone named Aaron to take care of the situation. Miriam curled up into a tight ball and fought against her tears. She had always felt different, but she believed that deep down she was just a normal girl. Now that belief was being ripped away from her. There was something wrong with her, something that made her dangerous to be around, and she had no idea what it was. Feeling scared, alone, and helpless, Miriam eventually cried herself to sleep.  
  
As usual, she dreamed of wolves.  
  
* * * * *   
  
Miriam did not come down to breakfast the next morning. She stayed in bed, hidden under the covers. It wasn't like she had to go to school, after all. Around noon, Aunt Tina knocked on her door asking if she was all right. Miriam managed to say that; yes she was fine, just feeling a little sick. Happily, her aunt let the subject drop.   
  
*Of course she let it drop.* Miriam thought bitterly. *If I'm going to change into some kind of monster, they don't want me down there with them when it happens.*  
  
Miriam stayed in her room the rest of the day, barely moving, hoping that maybe if she remained in bed long enough, she would fall asleep and awaken to find that the past two days had been nothing but a dream. However, as the sun began to dip below the horizon, she found she could not stay still any longer. She was starving.   
  
She got out of bed and tiptoed downstairs. Uncle Jacob and Aunt Tina were in the living room, apparently sitting in silence. For a moment, Miriam considered barging in and demanding that they tell her exactly what she was changing into and when. She dismissed that notion as quickly as it had occurred to her. If they suspected that she knew, God only knew what they might do to her.  
  
She continued on, tiptoeing to the kitchen. She was looking through the refrigerator for something to eat when the phone rang. She shut the fridge door and picked the phone up out of its cradle in the wall purely by instinct. She put the receiver to her ear and was about to say 'hello' when she heard voices. Her uncle had picked up the phone in the living room at the same time that she had grabbed the one in the kitchen.  
  
"Hello." Jacob said.  
  
"It's Aaron." A man's voice replied.  
  
"Aaron!" Her uncle sounded relieved. "I've been trying to call you."  
  
"It's about Miriam." The man's sentence was somewhere between a statement and a question.  
  
"How did you know?"  
  
"Her Kin Fetch told us. She hasn't...?"  
  
"No. Not yet." Jacob said. "But soon."  
  
"How soon?" The man named Aaron was growing more and more agitated.  
  
"Can you be here tonight?"  
  
"Damn." Aaron swore. "That soon? You sure?"  
  
"Positive." Her uncle replied.   
  
"I can't make it tonight." Aaron said. "I'm going to send a friend. Expect her in an hour. Is Miriam in the house?"  
  
"She's in her room."  
  
"Good. Keep her there. Whatever you do, don't let her leave the house."  
  
"Alright."   
  
"One hour." The conversation ended with a sharp *click*.  
  
Miriam replaced the phone and rushed upstairs. Her assumption had been right. She was about to change, into what she had no idea. And someone was coming for her. Well she didn't plan to be there when they arrived. She hurriedly pulled on her worn sneakers and grabbed a roll of bills from a small jar in her closet. She had been saving up her allowance money for a pair of roller blades, but now it was traveling money. She stuffed the folded bills in her pocket. Then, quietly so as not to alert her aunt or uncle, she opened her bedroom window and climbed out onto the roof.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Elena Dreamwalker stared at the shimmering disc she had just caused to spring into existence before her.  
  
*At least I haven't lost my touch.* She thought. Whenever her "little problem" cropped up she feared that she would lose her skills. If that happened, she would be completely useless to the sept. The only reason she was even tolerated was her skill as a Theurge. That, and that alone, allowed her septmates to overlook her cursed heritage. When they needed something from her at least...  
  
Sighing, Elena stepped into the open moon bridge. She felt the familiar sensation of being plunged into a pool of liquid nitrogen, only several degrees colder, while at the same time being shot out of a cannon.  
  
The trip lasted only seconds. She was greeted on the other side by several smiling faces. The smiles fell slightly when she emerged fully from the vortex. With her hair and eyes, it was pointless for Elena to try to hide what she was. Although her true curse was much less visible.  
  
"Welcome to the Sept of the Burning Mountains. I am Jacen-Giver of-Mercy." A middle-aged man said. "The Children of Gaia welcome you."  
  
"There's a cub about to start her First Change near here." Elena said tersely. "I was sent to collect her. And you needn't act like you're glad to see me." Among any other tribe, she might have stuck to formal protocol, but the Children weren't likely to get violent over issues of etiquette.   
  
"Nonsense." Jacen said with a broad smile. "All are welcome here."  
  
"Whatever." Elena turned and strode out of the clearing.  
  
"Would you at least give us your name, traveler? Perhaps your tribe." Jacen called after her.  
  
"Elena." She said. "And I have no tribe."  
  
The men and women around her stiffened. "Did you leave them?" Jacen asked. A rude metis was one thing; a rude metis ronin was likely to make even the Children of Gaia upset.  
  
"No." Elena said simply. "They left me." She walked away into the woods, wondering briefly how long it would take them to figure that one out.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Elena arrived at the small, two story brick house at eleven sharp, right on time. She rang the doorbell. A big man with dark hair answered.   
  
"Hello?"  
  
"You're Jacob?" Elena wasn't really into pleasantries.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Aaron sent me to get Miriam."  
  
"Come in." Jacob rushed her into the small foyer. Shutting the door behind them, he led Elena up the stairs. "She's still in her room."  
  
But Elena doubted that. Something felt wrong. She didn't smell or hear anything unusual. It was just a feeling she had. A feeling that told her the room would be empty.  
  
"Miriam." Jacob called out. "Can I come in?"   
  
There was no answer.  
  
"She's gone." Elena said.  
  
"I've been watching that hallway like a hawk." Jacob insisted. "She hasn't left."  
  
"Open the door."  
  
Jacob tried the latch. It was unlocked. He pushed the door open.  
  
"What the hell?"  
  
The bedroom was empty. Elena scanned the entire room, sniffing at the air. A girl had definitely been here, but she was not here any longer. "Look." She said. One of the room's two windows was open. Wind from outside pushed the drapes back and forth.  
  
"She went out the window." Elena said. Already her blood was beginning to quicken. The situation had just gotten much more serious.  
  
"It's a twelve foot drop off the roof." Jacob said. "There's no way..."  
  
"You said it yourself. She's starting the Change." Elena snapped. She stepped through the window out onto the roof. "This is out of your hands now."   
  
She leapt off the roof, transforming in midair to land deftly in wolf form. Her already keen sense of smell took a quantum leap forward. Within an instant she picked up the girl's trail, heading for the edge of town. Quickly, Elena loped off in the direction of the scent. She had to find the girl, before something terrible happened.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Miriam had never run away from home before. That surprised a lot of people, considering her reputation as a juvenile delinquent. The fact of the matter was; home was the only place she felt comfortable. But now that comfort was gone and Miriam was feeling scared. She didn't know where to go, or what to do when she got there. And at any moment she might change into...something. She thought she could already feel the change starting, but that was probably just her imagination. Then again, that jump off of the roof had been a little too easy.  
  
Miriam found a bus station near the edge of town. Luckily, she had thought to bring all of her saved-up cash with her.   
  
"One please." She told the lady behind the counter.  
  
"Where to hon?" The woman asked.  
  
Miriam wanted to just hand the lady all her cash and ask how far it would take her, but she didn't want to let on that she was on the run. She quickly scanned the schedule board for a bus leaving soon.  
  
"Topeka." She finally said. Miriam had absolutely no desire to see Kansas, but Topeka was the farthest destination she could afford.   
  
"There ya go." The lady handed Miriam a ticket. Miriam paid and entered the terminal. The first thing she did was go into the ladies restroom and examine herself in the mirror. She didn't see any changes; she looked the same as always. Dark blue eyes, darker black hair, a few persistent freckles that refused to fade away no matter how old she got. Not a fashion model perhaps, but way too cute to be a monster. For now at least.  
  
Miriam left the restroom and boarded her bus. They wouldn't depart for at least half an hour, but she would wait anyway.  
  
Ten minutes after she boarded the bus three people got on board. Miriam knew immediately that these people were bad news. The two guys were dressed like punk rockers, complete with shaved heads, leather clothing, and safety pins stuck through various body parts. The woman seemed more into the Goth look; black lace, black hair, black lipstick. She might have been pretty, if not for a facial deformity that placed one eye nearly half an inch higher than the other. Now that she looked more closely, the other two men appeared deformed as well, one had a hunchback and walked with a pronounced limp. The other seemed to have webbed fingers, like a frog.  
  
Miriam shuddered involuntarily. More than their fashion sense, or lack thereof, and their deformities bothered her. It was just a feeling she got, that they were here specifically to harm her.   
  
The woman and one of the men began making their way toward the back of the bus while the other man set about harassing the driver. As the two strangers approached her, Miriam sank low into her seat, trying to make herself as small as possible. It didn't work. The man took the seat directly behind Miriam, while the woman knelt on the seat in front of her, facing the back of the bus.  
  
Meanwhile, the driver was threatening to go get security if the hunchback didn't take his seat.   
  
*Don't do it!* Miriam thought desperately. *Don't leave me alone with them!*  
  
Either the driver read her mind or he just had the same thought she did. He motioned for her to follow him off the bus. Miriam began to stand but a strong pair of webbed hands on her shoulders stopped her. The hunchback smiled evilly at the driver.   
  
"You can go." He snarled. "But she stays here."  
  
"Get out of my way young man." The driver demanded. "And you!" He added. "Let her go. I'm not getting off this bus without her."  
  
"Then I guess you're not getting off this bus." The hunchback grinned and plunged his hand into the man's gut. But this was no ordinary sucker punch. Blood sprayed the driver's seat as his attacker's hand ripped through his stomach and burst out of his back. The old man was dead before he hit the floor. The hunchback laughed and slowly licked the man's blood off his fingers.  
  
Miriam opened her mouth to scream, but found it covered with one of the webbed hands.  
  
"Shhh." The Goth lady cooed. "We're not going to hurt you Miriam." How did they know her name? "We're here to help you. You want us to help you, don't you?"  
  
Miriam shook her head.  
  
"Well do you want to die tonight?" The deformed woman asked. There was no hint of threat in her voice, but Miriam had no doubt that she wouldn't hesitate to kill her. She shook her head again.  
  
"Then you need our help." The woman said. "They've sent people to kill you, you know. Now if Darren takes his hand off your mouth, do you promise not to scream?"  
  
Miriam nodded, tears streaming down her face. She was so scared, she couldn't have whispered, let alone screamed. The air tasted much better without Darren's malformed hand over her mouth. She couldn't stop sobbing though. She didn't for a second believe that the freaks wouldn't hurt her. On some subconscious, instinctual level, she knew that they would kill her if she tried to get away. But then, they would probably kill her if she stayed. Her options didn't look too good.  
  
"You don't have to run like this Miriam. All alone. You'd be much better off coming with us." The woman said.  
  
"Like him?" Miriam whispered, gesturing toward the driver. Even in a life or death situation, she couldn't stop her mouth.  
  
The Goth lady smiled. "He was nothing." She said absently. "Just a human. We're better than that. *You're* better. Stronger. I can show you what I mean. Just agree to come with us."  
  
Miriam was silent, but she had made her decision. There was no way in hell she was going with these three. As soon as an opportunity came, she would make a break for the door. They would probably kill her, but Miriam had a feeling that would be blissful compared to what would happen if she went with them willingly.  
  
The woman seemed disappointed by Miriam's silence, but she pressed on.  
  
"Aren't you tired Miriam? Tired of the torment, the humiliation? Aren't you sick of trying to live in a world that doesn't want you? A world where you can be expelled from your school just because you're different."  
  
Throughout Goth-girl's speech the man behind her had been loosening his grip. Miriam's opportunity was here, she bolted out of her chair and into the aisle. Darren made a grab for her and missed. Goth-girl fell out of her seat trying to turn. Miriam's heart soared. She might make it after all. Then she was brought up short.   
  
The hunchback blocked the door. At least she thought it was the hunchback. He was standing over the driver's body; and the man's blood stained his arm. But the hunchback no longer looked even remotely human. He had grown to nearly three times his previous size. His arms bulged with muscle, drawing Miriam's attention unpleasantly to the huge claws on both of his hands. His clothes were gone, replaced by a coat of mangy black fur. And his head...his head was like something out of a horror movie. Miriam was reminded most of a hyena's head, but with the ears of a bat.  
  
Miriam turned to go back the other way, toward the back door of the bus, but where Darren and Goth-girl had been, there now stood two monsters; each slightly different from the thing hunchback had become, but equally horrible. The creatures moved into the aisle blocking the door. Nowhere to run.  
  
"It didn't have to be like this, Miriam." One of the things snarled. Miriam recognized the monster as Goth-girl, but only from her misaligned eyes. "You should have come with us." The thing advanced on her.  
  
"Wait." The monster that had been Darren growled. "Let me have her."  
  
"What?" Goth-monster growled back.  
  
"Before we kill her. I want her."  
  
The other inhuman face twisted into a grin of pure evil. "Have your fun."  
  
Miriam wanted to back away, but she would only be backing into the hunchback. There was no way out. This thing was going to rape her, and then the three of them would kill her. Miriam knew she should be scared, but all she felt was anger. All the injustices she had suffered, the hatred of her peers, the loneliness of her childhood, came crashing down on her. If her blood had boiled when she was expelled, now her entire body was on the verge of bursting into flames. Her anger grew and the world around her became hazy. The burning rage in her heart blocked all thoughts but one: she would not let that thing touch her.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Elena paused to reacquire the girl's trail. She was getting close. She was about to resume when she smelled something new, mixed with the girl's scent. It was like the smells of an open sewer and a burning landfill combined, along with the faint odor of old death. The hair along her back stood on end and a low growl rumbled in her throat. Laid over Miriam's scent, following her to her destination was the stench of the Wyrm.  
  
Elena put on a burst of speed, running so fast that even her wolf lungs burned from the exertion. She was going to be too late. She ran straight into a bus station, the Wyrm stink was so thick she nearly gagged. She was about to shift to a form more suited for fighting when the side of the bus next to her burst open. Two huge forms landed in a shower of glass and metal and blood. The one on the bottom was a huge, humanoid monster with wing-like folds of skin under its arms and a hideous, almost feline face. So that was where the Wyrm scent came from. Black Spiral Dancers. Someone wanted this girl bad, and watching the second form to burst out of the bus, Elena saw why.  
  
The attacker was easily eight and a half feet tall. Two stripes of silver ran parallel to each other down the creature's back, the rest of its fur was black as night. A few ragged strips of cotton and denim that had once been clothing hung on the huge body. This was obviously the girl.   
  
Caught up in the rage of her First Change, Miriam bit and clawed at the helpless Dancer, tearing it to pieces with her bare hands. Within seconds, the Dancer was dead; its ugly head wrenched from its neck and flung across the parking lot.   
  
Another Dancer leapt out of the hole in the side of the bus. Miriam dodged easily and swept out with one clawed hand, slitting her attacker open from crotch to neck. The second Dancer died messily, drowning in its own blood and trying desperately to keep its intestines from falling out all over the pavement.   
  
The third Black Spiral Dancer, seeing the fate that its brethren had suffered jumped from the bus and tried to run, but it limped badly, and Miriam caught up to it in seconds. Blood poured over the parking lot as the twisted body was torn apart.   
  
Elena stood there, stunned by the carnage. The black and silver wolf-girl suddenly shrank, losing her fur and shifting back to her birth form. Where there had been a raging beast, there was now a small girl; mostly naked, covered in blood, and looking very scared.  
  
*Here we go* Elena thought.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Miriam came to as if from a dream. At first she didn't know where she was. Her last memory was of a monster coming for her. She looked around...and nearly threw up. Next to her was a corpse. It was the hunchback. He was still a monster, but now he was dead, his body torn open and his blood and entrails spread all over the pavement. Glancing around the parking lot, Miriam saw two other bodies; all three of her attackers were dead. But how?   
  
It was then that Miriam noticed her clothes, or what had been her clothes. Her shirt was almost completely gone; even though no one was around, she reached an arm up reflexively to cover herself. Her jeans hadn't fared much better, they were so thoroughly shredded that she had to hold them to keep them from falling off when she stood.   
  
Miriam immediately began to put two and two together. The monsters had attacked her. She had blacked out and woken up in the parking lot next to their dead bodies, her clothes shredded and her body covered in their blood. Somehow, she had killed them.  
  
"I've got to hand it to you, you're a lot stronger than you look." The voice came from behind Miriam. It was the soft voice of a young woman, with a delicate British accent. Miriam turned to see a woman in her early twenties standing next to the demolished bus. Fear immediately crept back into Miriam. It was just like the others. This woman wore normal clothes, but like the monsters, she was deformed.  
  
The woman was small, a few inches shorter than Miriam, and slightly frail-looking. She was actually quite pretty, but her hair and eyes marked her as a monster. Her long hair was light blue, but not the kind that came out of a bottle. A feeling, like the ones she had been having all night, told Miriam that blue was this woman's natural color. Her eyes were bright red, and had a strange glow to them. Miriam shrank back.  
  
"What do people you want from me?" She sobbed.  
  
"Hey calm down." The woman said soothingly. "I'm not here to hurt you."  
  
"That's what they said." Miriam yelled gesturing to the broken corpses around them.  
  
"Yes, I'm sure they did." The woman replied. "The difference is, I mean it."  
  
The woman's voice had a calming effect; Miriam felt her fear draining away. She wanted, needed to trust this woman.  
  
"Who are you?" She asked.  
  
"My name is Elena." The woman said.   
  
In the distance they heard the wail of sirens, approaching fast.   
  
"Listen to me Miriam..."  
  
"How does everyone know my name?" Miriam demanded.   
  
"I can explain everything that's happening to you, I promise. But for the next few minutes you'll have to do whatever I say without question, understand?"  
  
Miriam was quickly become convinced that, deformed or not, this woman was on her side. After all, the monsters had only demanded that she come with them. They never offered to explain anything. She finally nodded.  
  
"Alright." Elena said. "Is there a bathroom around here? Someplace with a mirror?"  
  
"Yeah." Miriam nodded. "In the terminal."  
  
"Take me there."  
  
Miriam led Elena into the small bathroom. She was tempted to turn on the faucet and wash some of the blood away, but her guide had not said to do so.   
  
"Here." Elena said, positioning Miriam in front of the mirror. "Look into the mirror. Not at your reflection, just let your eyes unfocus. Now look beyond the mirror, into the world on the other side."  
  
Miriam did as she was told, trying to look through the mirror instead of at it. Suddenly she felt something tugging at her body. Instinctively, she pulled back, only to feel Elena's hand on her shoulder.  
  
"No." The woman said. "Don't fight it! Let it take you."  
  
Miriam relaxed her body and surrendered to the tugging sensation. The world around her began to dissolve. She felt unimaginable cold on her bare skin. Fog and colored light swirled around her. She had the feeling that she was falling, sliding through space. Then as suddenly as it began, it was over.  
  
Miriam found herself back in the restroom, only it was different. Cobwebs hung all over the walls, but not spider webs. These webs seemed to be made of metal and glass. And the 'spiders' on them reminded Miriam more of robots out of some science fiction movie than of normal arachnids. Occasionally, sparks of electricity crackled across the webs, shooting from fiber to fiber. Everything seemed hazy, impermanent. Everything except the webs. They never shifted, never moved.   
  
Miriam felt movement at her side. The air next to her seemed to stretch and distort. Elena stepped quickly through the distortion and the air around her snapped back into place, rippling slightly like a pond after a stone is thrown in it.  
  
"What is this place?" Miriam asked.  
  
"This is the spirit world." Elena replied. "We call it the Umbra. Think of it as the physical world's shadow."  
  
"Who's 'we'?"  
  
Elena seemed to be searching for the right words. "'We' are your people, Miriam. We're the Garou. Your mother was one of us, and now you're one of us too."  
  
"Garou?" Miriam asked.  
  
"Don't recognize that one yet, huh? All right, I'll use humanity's name for us." She looked straight at Miriam, capturing her gaze with her blood-red eyes. "Miriam, you're a werewolf."   
  
* * * * *  
  
TBC  
  
* * * * *  
  
Okay here's the deal. I don't normally ask for feedback. (I believe a good story gets reviewed without needing to ask) However this is a special case. I'm a little unsure of this story (Mostly the accuracy of my Werewolf knowledge. Most of what I know about the World of Darkness is pre-Year of Reckoning) and so I'd appreciate some feedback before I continue. Basically I just want to know if anyone sees the need for major revision before I upload the next few parts.   
  
P.S. In case there are any anime fans reading this; yes, Rei Ayanami was the *visual* inspiration for Elena. In terms of attitude and character however, they are quite different. 


	2. Two

* * * * *  
Legal Stuff: I don't own Werewolf: the Apocalypse. I'm not actually sure who does own it these days, but I know it's someone at White Wolf. Anyway, most of the characters in this story (with the exception of a few cameos by White Wolf's signature characters) are my own creations. But the world they inhabit is not.  
* * * * *  
  
* * * * *  
  
The First Change  
  
by 18th Angel  
  
* * * * *  
  
Chapter 2  
  
* * * * *  
  
Elena seemed to be searching for the right words. "'We' are your people, Miriam. We're the Garou. Your mother was one of us, and now you're one of us too."  
  
"Garou?" Miriam asked.  
  
"Don't recognize that one yet, huh? All right, I'll use humanity's name for us." She looked straight at Miriam, capturing her gaze with her blood-red eyes. "Miriam, you're a werewolf."  
  
"A...a what?" The world seemed to fall away. Miriam felt like she was standing on the edge of a massive cliff, dangerously close to toppling off.  
  
"I know it's hard for you to believe, but it's true." Elena said. "Back there, when you killed those monsters; that was what we call the First Change. They attacked and you took the war-form to defend yourself."  
  
"But the moon." Miriam protested. "It's not..."  
  
"Full?" Elena finished for her. She sighed. "This is why I didn't want to say the 'W' word. Tell a homid cub they're a werewolf and immediately they flash back to every Hollywood cliché they've ever seen. That's not what we're about. We *are* monsters. Don't let anyone tell you different. But humans get it all wrong."  
  
"I don't understand."  
  
"A werewolf isn't a human who turns into a wolf when the moon is full." Elena said. "We're our own species, born from humans or wolves, but separate from them both. Haven't you always felt alone, alienated, even when you were with others?"  
  
Miriam nodded, remembering how she had been teased or neglected by her peers her entire life.  
  
"That's because they knew. The people who rejected you never understood the real reason. Subconsciously they knew what you really were. They saw the predator inside you, and they were afraid. But you won't be alone anymore, Miriam. You're where you belong now. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean your life will get any easier, just the opposite in fact. But from now on, you won't have to face it alone."   
  
"You're...a werewolf too?" Miriam asked.  
  
Elena smiled. "Yes." She said. "My full name is Elena Dreamwalker. I am a Theurge."  
  
"A what?"  
  
"When I say that I mean that I was born under the crescent moon." Elena explained. "My kind is best suited to mysticism, especially talking with spirits. What moon you're born under determines your place in society for us. For example tonight the gibbous moon is out. Any werewolf born tonight is destined to be a Galliard. They're the singers and storytellers, they keep the history of the Garou."  
  
"History?" Miriam was beginning to calm down enough to begin asking coherent questions. "You...we...have history?"  
  
"Of course we do." Elena said. "And a much longer history than the humans. See those webs?" She pointed the crackling metal webs and robotic spiders. "Those webs are part of the beginning." She gestured out the restroom door. "Come with me."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"So let me see if I have this straight?" Miriam said as Elena led her through the ghostly spirit reflection of the woods at the edge of town. "We're supposed to stop the Wyrm from devouring the whole world, stop the Weaver from spinning it all in her web, *and* keep the Wyld from getting too chaotic."  
  
"That's about it." Elena confirmed.  
  
"And how do we do all this?" Miriam asked. "I mean, I guess I must be pretty strong when I change, but I'm just like any other girl most of the time."  
  
"Well there's one thing we need to get out of your head right now."  
  
"What?"  
  
"This notion that the change is some sort of random effect." Elena said. "All you need is a little training and you'll be able to change whenever you want to. In fact, go ahead and do it. Try Lupus. That's full wolf, a good place to start since it's the farthest from your birth form. If you can make that change, then the other's will be easy."  
  
"How?" It was a simple question, and Miriam hoped the answer would be equally simple.   
  
"Well for now just...pretend. Get down on all fours and...I don't know...howl at the moon or something." Miriam's face must have betrayed her misgivings. "I know it's embarrassing, but it's only necessary until you get the hang of it." She smiled warmly. "I promise I won't tell anyone."  
  
Miriam sighed. "Okay. I'll try." She dropped to her knees, placing her palms on the ground in front of her. Feeling thoroughly ridiculous, she pawed at the ground, growling softly. Reluctantly, she lifted her head to the sky and let out a small howl. Despite her efforts, she felt exactly the same. "I'm sorry." She finally said. "I can't do it."  
  
"What do you mean?" Elena asked. "Look at yourself."  
  
Miriam looked down and found that her hands had become paws. Turning her head, she saw that her whole body had changed from a human being into a sleek, black and silver wolf.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Miriam's Lupus form, like her Crinos, was pure black, with parallel silver lines running the length of the back. Elena smiled. Miriam was turning out to be a quick learner.  
  
"Well done." She said, taking a moment to shift into wolf form herself. "Now follow me, we've got a lot of ground to cover."  
  
To her credit, Miriam kept up the entire trip, never faltering once. The girl definitely had good instincts. She would be a boon to any tribe that took her in. Of course, that particular decision was practically made already. *A girl like that... All she needs to do is show up and the Furies will accept her.*  
  
Before she knew it, they had reached their destination. She had chosen to leave Washington from a different Caern than she had entered through. This Sept was Shadow Lord territory. And while Elena didn't look forward to enduring scorn from the Shadow Lords, it was worlds away better than pity from the Children of Gaia.  
  
"Stop." She said. Miriam padded to a halt next to her.   
  
"What's wrong?"   
  
"Nothing." Elena said. "We just need to reach back to the physical world now."  
  
"But we don't have a mirror." Miriam said.  
  
Elena laughed softly. The girl had instincts, but she also had a lot to learn. "I'm a Theurge, Miriam." She said. "I stopped needing a mirror a long time ago."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Miriam was dismayed to find that her new fur didn't protect her at all from the icy sensation that came with stepping between worlds. She was glad to emerge into the comparatively hot night air of the real world.  
  
"Halt!" A voice called out. A tall man with long brown hair stepped into the path. "Show yourselves." He called.  
  
Elena stepped into a patch of moonlight and Miriam reluctantly followed her lead. The man looked at them for a moment. "Perhaps allow me the courtesy of looking me in the eyes?" He asked.  
  
Elena let out the canine equivalent of a derisive snort. Her body began to twist and grow, returning to her human form. Miriam followed suite, marveling at how easily she made the transformation.  
  
"Nice fashion statement, missy." The tall man remarked with a laugh.  
  
Miriam suddenly realized that she had left the tattered remnants of her clothes miles away when she changed into a wolf. Blushing furiously, she tried to hide behind Elena.  
  
"You think if you tried you could make this any harder for the girl?" Elena asked, clearly upset with the man.   
  
"It's not my job to make things easy for pups like her." He replied.  
  
Elena rolled her eyes and took off her long trench coat. "Here you go." Miriam gratefully took the coat and pulled it on, knotting the waistband tightly to keep it closed.  
  
"We need to open a Moon Bridge from here." Elena said. "Are you going to let us in or not?"  
  
The man made a big show of gesturing down the path with one arm. "Go right ahead."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Miriam followed Elena down the moonlit path. "Who was that guy?" She asked.  
  
"The Warder." Elena said. "He patrols the edge of the Caern. Just to make sure nobody's here who doesn't belong."  
  
"We belong, don't we?" Miriam asked. "I mean, if we're all werewolves, they have to let us in right?"  
  
"They don't have to." Elena replied. "But if they were going to stop us, he wouldn't have let us pass."  
  
The dirt path led them into a large clearing. A pile of cinders lay in a large fire pit. Several men and women sat in a circle around the pit.   
  
One of them, a huge man wearing what looked like a bear's skin stood when they entered the clearing. His muscular arms were covered with scars, as was his face. He ignored Miriam, staring intently at Elena.  
  
"Go back the way you came." He said. "Your kind is not welcome here."  
  
"Your warder let us in." Elena said.   
  
"He is new here." Came the reply. "He will be informed of his error."  
  
"I'm delivering a cub to her tribe. I need to open a Moon Bridge."  
  
"The Children of Gaia aren't far." The huge man said. "Open your Bridge there. I'll not let this place be contaminated with your sin."  
  
"Come on." Elena said furiously, turning quickly to head back out of the clearing.  
  
"Hold on!" Miriam said. She was getting angry again. Not mad enough to kill like earlier this evening, just mad enough to say things she knew she shouldn't. "You can't talk to her like that!"  
  
The people around the fire laughed as if Miriam had just told the funniest joke they had ever heard.   
  
"Not even through her Rite of Passage and already she presumes to tell me how to speak." The big man said to no one in particular. "You're taking her to see the Furies aren't you?" He called to Elena, who was still in shock at Miriam's outspokenness. Elena nodded.   
  
"Not at all surprising." He turned to Miriam. "So little girl; are you ready to join your tribe and put man in his place, hmm?" The condescension with which he spoke made Miriam want to scream.  
  
"What tribe are you in?" She asked.  
  
The big guy smiled broadly and made a sweeping gesture around the fire circle with his arms. "We are the Shadow Lords!" He cried. "Greatest of the Garou!"  
  
"Oh." Miriam smiled sweetly. "Well now I know which tribe I *won't* be joining." She turned and left the clearing. Elena smiled and bowed slightly before following.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"What was that about?" Miriam asked, as Elena led her through the forest's Umbral reflection.   
  
"What?" Elena asked.  
  
"You know what." Miriam said. "What did he mean 'your sin'?"  
  
"I don't want to talk about it." The Theurge said harshly. "Someone's bound to tell you sooner or later."  
  
Another hour of walking through the Umbra brought them to another clearing. There were people here too, men and women. But these people seemed different. The Shadow Lords had been sitting solemnly in their circle. These werewolves, for Miriam assumed that was what they were, seemed to be having a party. Several of them were dancing, everyone was singing, and they were passing around a large, earthenware jug, each person taking a swig before passing it along.  
  
A middle-aged man smiled when he saw them. He jumped down from his perch on a tree branch with a grace that belied his age. Smiling warmly, he walked over to where they stood.  
  
"Welcome back Elena." He said. "I see you found your cub."  
  
Elena nodded. "This is Miriam Foster." She said. "Miriam, this is Jacen Giver of Mercy, a Child of Gaia."  
  
"You mean he's not a werewolf?" Miriam asked, confused. "What's a Child of Gaia?"  
  
Jacen laughed, but it was a good-natured laugh. "You misunderstand." He gestured to his companions. "We are the Children of Gaia. One of the thirt...twelve Tribes of the Garou."  
  
"Oh." Miriam suddenly felt very stupid.  
  
"May I open a Moon Bridge from here?" Elena asked.  
  
"Of course." Jacen replied. "But why not rest a while first." He indicated the interrupted revel behind him.  
  
"We really are in a hurry." Elena said.   
  
"In that case, I'll help you open the Bridge."  
  
"I'd appreciate that." Elena said.  
  
"Liana!" Jacen called. A girl, only a year or two older than Miriam, jumped up and ran over to them. "Perhaps you could help Miriam clean up a bit." He suggested. Miriam blushed, realizing for the second time that night how strange she must look, clothed only in a trench coat, nearly every inch of her covered in blood. She didn't even want to think about it.   
  
The girl named Liana smiled and held out a hand. "Come on." She said cheerfully.  
  
Miriam took her hand and Liana led her to a narrow, slow-moving river some distance from the clearing.  
  
"Go ahead." She said, turning her back to the water. "I won't watch."  
  
Miriam spent quite a while in the river. The thick blood had dried on her and it took several minutes to wash it all off her skin. And no matter how long she scrubbed, she couldn't seem to get it all out of her hair. When she finally stepped out of the water, she found that someone had brought clothes while she was washing. Liana handed her a long, light skirt, a loose fitting shirt, and a pair of sandals. The Children of Gaia seemed to be into the 'new age' scene, at least as far as their clothes were concerned.  
  
"One more thing." Liana said after Miriam had put on the clothes. The older girl closed her eyes, whispered a few words in a strange language that Miriam thought she *almost* recognized, and touched each article of clothing lightly with her fingertips.   
  
"What did you do?" Miriam asked.  
  
"Just a small Rite. These clothes are dedicated to you now. They won't rip when you transform." Liana said. She winked. "Just in case you have to shift again tonight."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"You're a Stargazer, aren't you?"  
  
Elena was in deep concentration when Jacen spoke up behind her. Opening a Moon Bridge was difficult to begin with. Opening one from a small Caern was even harder. And opening one from a small Caern to the other side of the country was damn near impossible. Elena found that meditating and communing with the Caern Totem before asking it to open the bridge usually helped. So she was slightly frustrated when Jacen interrupted her concentration.  
  
"What?" She turned so Jacen could see her face, just in case her voice hadn't fully conveyed how annoyed she was.  
  
"When you first got here, didn't you say that you didn't leave your Tribe, they left you?"  
  
"It sounds familiar." Elena said.  
  
"So why didn't you go with them?" Jacen asked.  
  
"When did I say I was one of them to begin with?" Elena snapped back.  
  
"You have a lot of anger for a Crescent Moon."   
  
"And here I've been laboring under the impression that that was *my* business, not yours."  
  
Jacen sighed. "Our Rage is one of our greatest gifts Elena." He said. "But unchecked, it can also be a path for the Wyrm to enter our hearts."  
  
"I know." Elena said quietly. "But it's all I have left. They went their own way." She added in a near-whisper. "And by the time I found out, it was too late to follow."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Trans Global flight 119, service from Mexico City, now arriving at gate A-21. Passengers will be disembarking shortly"   
  
Mamoru Tenkawa glanced up from his newspaper. Sure enough, a minute or two later, people began to emerge from the boarding tunnel. Mamoru searched the crowd for his friend. It wasn't a long search; Aaron Foster was a hard person to miss.  
  
Aaron was twenty-two years old. On an *extremely* good day, he could pass for twenty-eight. Unlike most Full Moons, Aaron's face was relatively unmarred. He seemed to have a perpetual five-o'-clock shadow, which added a year or two to his appearance. But the main source of his premature aging was his eyes. Those eyes spoke of hardships far beyond his years; of battles that were never really won, even when he was the victor.  
  
Yet, despite all that, his was a pleasant face. Open, friendly, ruggedly handsome. Aaron smiled when he saw Mamoru. He had no trouble pushing through the crowd. One of the perks of being an Ahroun; even if people didn't know what you were, they knew instinctively not to get in your way.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Liana led Miriam back to the clearing, where Elena and Jacen seemed to be holding a deep conversation with two animals. Elena had a small white mouse in her hand. Jacen stood before a magnificent white horse. It was a second or two before Miriam noticed the horn in the horse's forehead.  
  
"Is that...?"  
  
"A Unicorn?" Liana finished. "Yeah. Took me by surprise the first time I saw it, too. Unicorn is our tribe's Totem, she watches over this Caern."  
  
"What are they doing?" Miriam whispered.  
  
"They're asking the Totems to open a moon bridge between two Caerns." Liana said. "You must be traveling pretty far. Normally a Theurge would only need to ask one Totem for help, but their asking two."  
  
"I still don't get this whole 'Theurge' thing?" Miriam said.  
  
"Basically, there are five phases of the moon that you can be born under." Liana explained. "New, Crescent, Half, Gibbous, and Full. That's called your auspice, and it decides the role you'll play in society. Crescent Moon people are Theurges. They're kind of like the wizards of the Garou. I was born under the New Moon, so I'm Ragabash. We're like...tricksters. We're supposed to keep all the others on their toes."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because we can't afford to be complacent." Liana replied. "There's way to much at stake. But we also can't afford to become too hardened by battle, so New Moons like me also make sure to show the others that life can still be funny. Trust me, it's a thankless task. Once you reach your destination, you'll learn your own auspice."  
  
Miriam nodded.  
  
"Speaking of which." Liana pointed to a bright, glowing circle that had appeared in the center of the clearing.   
  
"We're ready to go, Miriam." Elena called out to her.   
  
"Uh...thanks." Miriam said to Liana. "You know; for the clothes. And for all your help."  
  
Liana reached over and hugged Miriam like a sister. "Safe journey, Miriam." She said. "Gaia watch over you."  
  
"Thank you." Miriam said again. Then she followed Elena into the shimmering Moon Bridge.   
  
If stepping into the Umbra had been cold, the Moon Bridge was freezing. Miriam felt unimaginable pressure on her as they shot forward. The trip was over practically before it began. They burst out into another wooded area. But unlike the quite woods they had left, this forest was filled with the sounds of the city. Cars honked, people yelled, and sirens wailed in the distance.  
  
"Now where are we?" Miriam asked.  
  
"New York." Elena said. "Specifically, Central Park." She turned to Miriam. "Welcome home."  
  
* * * * *  
  
From outside, the Red Wolf Bar looked like it was about to close down at any moment. All the shops and restaurants around it had long since boarded up their windows and locked their doors for the last time. People who lived nearby whispered that the owner, Anthony Marino, kept the bar open by providing a forum for 'family business'. In a way they were right. But Anthony was not connected in any way to organized crime. He catered to a different, and far more secretive, family.  
  
"So how was Cancun?" Mamoru asked his friend. They had driven straight from the airport to the Red Wolf and were now sitting in a booth near the back of the bar, being studiously ignored by the other patrons. "Catch any sun?"  
  
"It wasn't a pleasure trip." Aaron said. "I delivered the message and then I came back here."  
  
"You need to learn to enjoy your work more, Aaron." Mamoru said, finishing off his second beer and signaling to the waitress to keep them coming. "If *I* got sent to a sunlit paradise like that, I'd stay a few days after I did the job."  
  
"Not an option." Aaron replied, taking a small sip from his first drink, which was still nearly full. "I have to be in the Park at midnight."  
  
"This wouldn't have anything to do with Elena canceling on us at the last second, would it?" Mamoru asked.  
  
Aaron nodded. "I've got family coming into town."  
  
"What do you mean?" Mamoru leaned over the table and spoke in a conspiratorial whisper. "You mean like *family* family, or just a relative."  
  
"What the hell are you, a secret agent?" Aaron snapped. "Get on your own side of the table!"  
  
Mamoru snapped back to his side, surprised at his friend's temper. "Damn!" He exclaimed. "Cancun must have been worse than you're letting on." He made a mock gasp. "You didn't drink the water there, did you?" He fell to laughing quietly at his own joke.  
  
Aaron sighed and took a long gulp of beer. "It's my little sister." He finally said. "She's Firsting."   
  
That shut Mamoru up. He blinked once. Twice. "You have a sister?"  
  
* * * * *  
  
"I have a brother!?"  
  
"Yes." Elena said, scowling. "A very late older brother."   
  
"Uh...now by 'brother', you mean like...because we're all werewolves...we're like...sort of family...like this guy's my brother in the same way that you and I are sisters...or...?" In the absence of a coherent reply Miriam seemed to be spouting whatever entered her head.  
  
"I mean your mother had a son who is now half an hour late." Elena said.  
  
"But see...but see...I don't have a brother." Miriam said. "Okay? I think I'd know if I'd had a brother."  
  
"How?" Elena asked. "Have you ever been to Los Angeles?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Well that's where he grew up."  
  
"That's it!" Miriam screamed. "I'm sorry. This is just to too much. Look; yesterday I was just a regular, slightly screwed up kid. Now I'm a werewolf and I have to learn all this stuff about spirits and moon phases and fighting this giant war, and now your telling me I've got a brother who I've never even met it's just...I need a break, okay?"  
  
"Sorry." Elena said, sitting next to her. "You've been doing so well tonight, I almost forgot how new this all is for you."  
  
"It's just a lot to take in all at once." Miriam said. "Well you know."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well you went through all of this too, right?"  
  
Elena looked away.  
  
"What?" Miriam asked. "Elena; what's wrong?"  
  
Elena sighed. She didn't want to lose Miriam's respect, which she certainly would as soon as the girl learned about breeds. *She's going to hear it eventually.* Elena finally decided. *It might as well be from me.*  
  
"I'm...different from you." She said.  
  
"Different?"  
  
"You remember what I said, that werewolves have children with humans or wolves?"   
  
Miriam nodded. "Yeah."  
  
"There's a reason for that. Our first law is 'Garou shall not mate with Garou'." Elena continued. "I'm what happens...when that law is broken. Garou like me, metis, gain the ability to change at an early age. I had my First Change when I was only seven years old. But we're always twisted in some way. That's why I look...the way I do. That's why the Shadow Lords wouldn't let us use their Caern."  
  
"I don't get it." Miriam said. "It's just blue hair."  
  
"It's not the deformity itself. It's the principal. There are also much worse deformities." *Like the one you can't see right now.*  
  
"It still doesn't make sense. You can't help the way you were born."  
  
"It doesn't make sense." Elena agreed. "But that's the way things are. Nothing's going to change it."  
  
"It's not right." Miriam maintained. Elena smiled, but it was a melancholy smile. Miriam was such a kind girl. Elena wondered how long could she live in this world before that kindness died?  
  
* * * * *  
  
"We're late." Aaron said.  
  
"So I heard." Mamoru said. "The first eight times you said it." He added.  
  
"I told Elena midnight." Aaron said. "I can't afford to gain a reputation for being late."  
  
"You think Elena's going to go around telling everyone that you were a few minutes late once?"   
  
"You wouldn't understand." Aaron said. It was true, Mamoru could never really understand. Aaron was a Silent Strider, a messenger. And for a messenger, punctuality was everything.  
  
"Look. We got caught in a traffic jam." Mamoru said. "Unless you can control the flow of traffic somehow, I doubt anyone will hold this against you."  
  
"Here ya are." The driver said. "Central Park West."  
  
"I assume I'm paying." Mamoru said.  
  
"Unless Charlie here takes pesos."  
  
"So what's this sister of yours like?" Mamoru asked as the cab pulled away.  
  
Aaron shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. We've never actually met."  
  
* * * * *  
  
"What's my brother like?"  
  
"Aaron's a good guy." Elena said. "He's got a bit of a temper, but that comes with being an Ahroun. And he's a lot less high strung then most of them."  
  
"Ahroun? Tribe or auspice?" Miriam asked.  
  
"Auspice. Full Moon. They're the warriors. Well, we're all warriors but Ahrouns make the rest of us look like amateurs. When you absolutely *need* something hacked into a thousand pieces you call an Ahroun. They're not really into subtlety though..."  
  
"Great." Suddenly, Miriam wasn't sure she wanted to meet her brother.  
  
Her face must have betrayed her thoughts. "Don't worry." Elena said quickly. "Aaron really is surprisingly laid-back. He's a Silent Strider, that's a tribe, and they're usually really calm so I think that helps balance it out."  
  
"What tribe are you in?" Miriam knew immediately that she had hit another sore spot. Elena frowned and seemed to tighten up. "I'm sorry." She said. "I didn't mean to..."  
  
"No, it's alright." Elena said. "It's just been a while since I've had to explain this. I'm a Stargazer. We used to be part of the Garou nation, but recently the tribal elders decided that we needed to go off on our own to protect our homeland before the final battle. Only a few of us stayed behind. It's still a big issue with a lot of our people. Some aren't sure they can trust us any more. Others just don't want to."  
  
Miriam decided to change the subject slightly. "So if my brother is a Silent Strider, does that mean I'm one too?"  
  
"Not necessarily." Elena said. "In theory, you can petition any tribe to take you in."  
  
"In theory?"  
  
"Well some of them are pretty selective about who they accept. The Red Talons never take homids. The Glass Walkers rarely take lupus. The Wendigo only accept Native Americans... You get the idea. Tonight we're supposed to take you to see one of the Black Furies. Your mother was one of them, so they kind of have 'first dibs' on you, but they wouldn't force you to join them or anything."  
  
"So why is my brother a Silent Strider instead of a Black Fury?"  
  
Elena opened her mouth to answer but another voice interrupted her.  
  
"Because the Black Furies are another very selective tribe." Miriam turned to see two men walking toward them. One was a thin Asian man with short brown hair and thick glasses. The other was tall, muscular, and imposing. In his face, Miriam saw a little bit of Uncle Jacob and a whole lot of herself. "No boys allowed." Her brother finished.  
  
An awkward silence hung in the air.   
  
"Miriam." Elena said gently. "Meet Aaron Foster. Your brother."  
  
* * * * *  
  
TBC  
  
* * * * *  



	3. Three

* * * * *  
Legal Stuff: I don't own Werewolf: the Apocalypse. I'm not actually sure who does own it these days, but I know it's someone at White Wolf. Anyway, most of the characters in this story (with the exception of a few cameos by White Wolf's signature characters) are my own creations. But the world they inhabit is not.  
* * * * *  
  
* * * * *  
  
The First Change  
  
by 18th Angel  
  
* * * * *  
  
Chapter 3  
  
* * * * *  
  
Aaron stood, transfixed. He had only seen the girl in front of him twice before. When his mother had died, two years earlier, he had found a picture of her in her home. Miriam had been an infant in the picture, barely a day old.  
  
The second time occurred shortly after his own First Change. He had bargained, cajoled, and, in the end, pleaded with every spirit he could find to learn her location. He had seen her in the playground at her school, but dared not approach her. If she had seen him at all, it had been as nothing more than a stranger in the street, dismissed in seconds and never thought of again.  
  
Now here they were, face to face. What was he supposed to do? Say 'Hello'? Too distant. Hug her? Too personal. What the hell did you say to a sister who had never met you?  
  
"I'm...glad you're safe." He finally said. When in doubt, stick to the truth. "I meant to come and get you myself, but I got...held up."  
  
"That's okay." Miriam finally seemed to find her voice. "Elena helped me."  
  
"Thank you Elena." Aaron said.  
  
Elena shook her head. "Don't let her fool you." She said. "She didn't need that much help. She took down *three* Black Spirals before I could even reach her."  
  
"I...just got lucky." Miriam said self-consciously.  
  
"Don't knock it." Elena replied. "Sometimes a fight just comes down to who's luckier. Be glad it was you."  
  
"Screw luck." Mamoru spoke up behind him. "Three Black Spirals? There's more than luck going on there."  
  
"I agree." Aaron said. "You did well." He debated before making his next statement. "Mother would be proud of you."  
  
The girl seemed to brighten up at that, which was good. It could have gone either way, smiles or tears. Fortunately, as Aaron was quickly learning, his sister was stronger than she appeared.  
  
"It's time to go." He said. "They won't wait forever."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Miriam's second trip through a Moon Bridge was just as cold and disorienting as her first, but at least it was shorter. They emerged on the shore of a large lake. Mountains rose in the distance, bathed in moonlight. A thick fog hung over the lake.  
  
Two people, a man and woman, were waiting for them next to a small boat. The woman had short black hair and tanned skin. Her cut-off tank top left her midriff bare. Three long scars, claw marks from the look of them, lay across her belly. Her companion was a man in his late teens or early twenties; it was hard to tell exactly. He wore traditional Native American clothing and carried a large, wooden spear with a blade of polished steel. Both smiled as they approached.  
  
"Is this the girl?" The woman asked.  
  
Aaron nodded. "This is Miriam." He said.  
  
The woman held out a hand, which Miriam timidly accepted. Her handshake was surprisingly firm; there was a lot of strength in her arms.  
  
"I'm Mari." She introduced herself. "And this is Evan." She gestured to her companion, who nodded briefly. "Thank you for bringing her. We'll take it from here."  
  
"Should we wait here?" Her brother's friend, Mamoru asked. "I mean, how long will it take."  
  
"That's for Gaia to decide." The man named Evan finally spoke up. Mari nodded her agreement.  
  
"Good luck." Elena said. Mari gestured to the small boat, where Evan was already seated, oars in hand. Nervously, Miriam stepped into the boat and sat down. Mari followed, pushing the boat off from shore and leaping in at the last minute.  
  
"Where are we going?" Miriam asked as fog swallowed the shoreline.  
  
"There's a sacred place on the other side of this lake, up in the mountains." Mari said. "We're going there."  
  
"What's up there?"  
  
"A test." Evan said. "This is your Rite of Passage."  
  
"A test?" Miriam stammered. "But...I don't know anything. I didn't even know I was a werewolf until a few hours ago."  
  
Evan smiled. "It's not that kind of test." He said. "Not like any test you've taken in school. The Rite of Passage tests the nature of your soul. It shows you your true self, so you can join your tribe knowing who and what you are."  
  
"You did this?"  
  
"We all do." Mari said.  
  
"Not this exact test." Evan said. "But every cub has a Rite of Passage. And no two are alike. Now, as for you not knowing anything; ask away."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Well that's why I'm here. Apparently someone got it into their head that I'm good at explaining things." Mari made a laughing noise. "Anyway, Mari asked me to give you the basics."  
  
*Where do I even start?* Miriam wondered. There were so many questions she had to ask. She decided to start small.  
  
"What's my auspice?"  
  
Evan smiled again, a friendly smile. Miriam could see why he had been chosen to talk to her. Mari seemed nice enough, but she didn't radiate compassion the way Evan did.  
  
"Well there's been a spirit following you around since the day you were born." He said. "If you give me a second, I'll try asking her."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Miriam learned a lot in their trip across the lake. She learned that she was a Philodox, a Half Moon, as was Evan. He also taught her a lot about the Garou in general, so much that her head swam just wondering how he could remember it all.  
  
But for all that, there was still one question she had to ask. The question that had been burning her up all night.  
  
"Why me? Out of all the people in the world, why me? Or why my brother, or either of you? How did we get chosen for this?"  
  
Evan took the question in stride. Apparently he got that one a lot. "We don't know." He said plainly. "Not everyone who has a werewolf for a parent becomes one of us. For example, your mother Changed, but your uncle never did; and he never will. He's what we call Kinfolk. Actually, the chances against both you *and* your brother being Garou were...unimaginable. But it happened. For whatever reason, when we're born, Luna reaches down and kisses us. None of us knows why she chooses one person and skips another. But I don't like to think it's a random thing. She picked you for a reason. And someday, She'll let you see what it was."  
  
"We're here." Mari said.   
  
"Good luck, Miriam." Evan said. "I hope I've been helpful."  
  
"Wait. You're not coming with us?" Miriam asked. Evan shook his head.  
  
"No man has ever seen the place we're going to." Mari said.  
  
"I'll be right here when you get back." Evan assured her.  
  
"Come on." Mari said, transforming into a large, black and white wolf. "We've got a lot of walking to do."  
  
* * * * *  
  
Miriam followed Mari deep into the fog-choked woods. Their path gradually began to slope upwards. The trees thinned out as they continued to ascend. Finally, Mari stopped. Peering ahead through the fog, Miriam saw a large triangle made up of three stone arches. It reminded Miriam of pictures she had seen of Stonehenge. Next to her, Mari shifted back into Homid form. Miriam did the same.  
  
"From here, you have to go on alone." Mari said. She turned to Miriam. "Whatever you encounter, have faith in yourself. Be true to your heart; it won't lead you astray."  
  
Miriam nodded, trying to look braver than she felt. She hadn't been alone since she Changed; had it really only been a few hours ago? It felt like days. She didn't want to be alone again just yet. The world no longer felt safe enough to be alone in; she wasn't sure it ever would again.  
  
Cautiously, Miriam approached the arches. She heard voices on all sides; whispering, unintelligible. She turned to look back the way she came, but Mari had disappeared. The fog had thickened to a near-solid mass; it was impossible to see anything beyond it. Dark, twisted shapes moved in the fog, blocking any escape she might have contemplated. Miriam swallowed loudly. There was no way to go now except forward.  
  
In the center of the triangle stood a stone altar. On the altar was a single object; a polished mirror. Miriam picked up the small mirror; it didn't take a genius to figure out what she was supposed to do next.  
  
"Okay." She whispered. "Look into the mirror. Unfocus your eyes. Look beyond the mirror. And..."  
  
With a blast of cold air and psychedelic light, Miriam stepped into the Umbra. The otherworldly reflection of the stone circle was like nothing she had ever seen. The city's Umbral shadow had seemed vibrant and alive when she had seen it earlier this evening. But that had just been in comparison to the real world. This place made the city's reflection seem muted, ordinary even. She remembered what Evan had told her about the three forces of the Triat.   
  
*The Weaver makes the city lifeless. But out here, the Wyld has control.* She realized. The triangle of stone arches glowed with unimaginable energy in the Umbra, turning night into day. One of the arches seemed to beckon to her. Miriam looked through the arch expecting to see the fog-shrouded woods on the other side. Instead, she saw a large room. Curious, she stepped through the arch into the room.  
  
There was a scraping sound behind her. Miriam turned to see the stone arch morph into a large fireplace, complete with a roaring fire. The fire cast its warm glow over what looked like a Victorian era drawing room. A sofa and several large chairs stood facing the fireplace. Dozens of thick books lined the walls and a large globe stood in one corner.  
  
In the largest chair sat a woman. Like the room itself, the woman seemed to have been pulled out of the nineteenth century. But rather than a full skirt and corset, she wore what could only be described as explorer's clothing; khaki pants and shirt, thick leather boots, and a wide-brimmed hat. There was even a canvas backpack resting on the floor by her feet, probably full of maps and traveling equipment.  
  
"Well it's about time you showed up." The woman said, looking up as Miriam entered the room.   
  
"Huh?" Miriam said. "Do I know you?"  
  
The woman smiled. "Know me? Personally? Probably not." She said. "I'm just a shadow from the past. You may call me Deborah."  
  
Miriam didn't quite get what the woman meant, and it must have showed on your face.  
  
"Didn't your elders tell you anything about ancestor spirits?" Deborah asked.  
  
"You're...my ancestor?" Miriam asked.  
  
"Give the little lady a cigar! That's right." Deborah nodded. "One of many. I'm here to see how smart you really are." She gestured to the chair across from her. "Have a seat."  
  
Miriam crossed the room and sat down. Already, her stomach was beginning to tie itself in knots. Evan had said that she wasn't going to be tested on her knowledge of Garou society. Had he lied?  
  
"Okay?" She said. "I'm ready."  
  
Deborah smiled. "Okay." She said. "First question: What goes on four legs in the morning, two legs in the day, and three legs in the evening?"  
  
"Huh?" That wasn't the kind of question Miriam had expected.  
  
"You do understand the contest don't you?" Deborah asked.  
  
"Contest?" Then it struck her. "A riddle contest!"  
  
"Well of course." Deborah said. "Did you think I was going ask you history questions or something?"  
  
"Well..."  
  
"All acquired knowledge, no matter how vast, is useless unless it's coupled with natural cleverness." Deborah said. "Now, do you know the answer?"  
  
Miriam thought for a second; she had heard this one somewhere before. If she could just remember..."  
  
"A person!" She exclaimed. "A person crawls when they're a baby, walks on two legs when they grow up, and uses a cane when they're old."  
  
Deborah shrugged. "Well I gave you a break that time. Everybody knows *that* riddle these days. Your turn."  
  
"My turn?"  
  
"I thought you said you understood the rules." Deborah said. "The only way to win is to ask a riddle your opponent cannot answer."  
  
"Oh. Okay." Miriam thought for a minute. "What's the only nail you shouldn't hit with a hammer?"  
  
Deborah smiled. "Why, your thumbnail, of course." She said casually.  
  
"Crap! Okay, go ahead." Miriam muttered.  
  
"I'm thinking of an object. The person who builds it does not want it; the person who buys it does not need it; and the person who uses it will never see it. What is it?"  
  
Miriam sat back in her chair. This one was going to take a while. The person who made it doesn't want it, but why make something you don't want, except to sell it? For that matter, why buy something you don't need. It all rested on the guy who used the item, but never saw it. What item did you use without seeing it?  
  
"I got it!" Miriam called triumphantly. "It's a coffin!"  
  
"Very good." Deborah said. "You are clever. But clever enough? That remains to be seen."  
  
"Okay, let me think." Miriam reached back to every riddle she had ever heard, searching for one that Deborah might not know or be able to figure out. "Okay." She finally said. "A man walks through a parking lot to his car. The streetlamps aren't on and he doesn't have a flashlight, but he has no trouble finding his car. How?"  
  
Deborah grinned tightly, sitting back in her chair.  
  
*Good* Miriam thought. *She has to think about it.*  
  
After a minute or so of silence, Deborah spoke up. "I suppose it must be daytime."  
  
That took a little wind out of Miriam's sails. She had been hoping that Deborah wouldn't get that one. However, the contest wasn't over yet.  
  
Deborah leaned forward before speaking. "How far can you walk into the woods?"  
  
"What? That's not a riddle." Miriam protested.  
  
"I beg to differ." Deborah said. "It is very much a riddle."  
  
"But what woods? I mean..."  
  
"Any woods." Came the reply. Miriam was silent. "Does this mean you're giving up."  
  
"Not on your life!" Miriam snapped. "I'll figure this out; just give me a minute."  
  
"Take your time." Deborah said. "I've nowhere to be."  
  
Miriam pondered the riddle for what felt like hours. There didn't seem to be a way to answer. Deborah had said 'any woods'. But every forest was a different size, so walking as far as you could into one forest might only get you halfway into... That was it!  
  
"Halfway! Once you reach the middle, you start walking out!"  
  
"Now I am impressed." Deborah said. "No-one's ever given me quite this much of a challenge."  
  
Miriam felt a rush of pride at that, but she couldn't get cocky. It was her turn to ask again. Then she remembered the hardest riddle she had ever heard. She'd never actually figured it out. In the end, she had looked the answer up in a riddle book. Hopefully, it would baffle Deborah as much as it had baffled Miriam.  
  
"Two men each took their sons to a baseball game. Both men had one son, yet the entire group only bought three tickets. How is that possible?"  
  
Miriam could tell from the look on Deborah's face that she had won. The older woman pondered for several minutes, but in the end she threw her hands up in frustration.  
  
"I...don't know." Her voice sounded strange, as if she wasn't used to saying those words. "You win."  
  
The fireplace morphed back into the stone arch.  
  
"The next trial won't be this pleasant I'm afraid." Deborah said. There was no malice in her voice. She was simply stating a fact. Miriam nodded and turned to leave. "Wait!" Deborah called out. "Please, tell me the answer."  
  
"Oh, right." Miriam said. "Well one man was a grandfather. He took his son, and that son took his own son. Three guys, two of whom had sons."  
  
Deborah clapped her hands, delighted. "Brilliant!" She exclaimed. "Oh, you'll do fine, Miriam. You'll make us all proud."  
  
"Us?"  
  
"Your ancestors." She said. "It's quite a long line, you know. We've been watching you for years, but I must say you're exceeding even my expectations."  
  
"Uh...thank you." Miriam said. Somehow the thought of her ancestors watching her gave her a strange feeling. She didn't want to let them down.  
  
"Be strong, Miriam." Deborah said. "The next trials are hard, but they're nothing you can't handle."  
  
Miriam nodded and stepped through the stone arch. She turned around, but the room, and Deborah with it, was already gone.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Turning back around, Miriam was faced with two more arches. The one on the right seemed to be glowing slightly. She took a step closer. Looking through the arch, Miriam saw a long, stone hallway. The stone began gray but the further down the hall Miriam looked, the more the walls faded to reddish orange.  
  
Summoning up her courage, Miriam stepped through the glowing arch. The hall was silent.  
  
"Hello?" Miriam called.  
  
--Do you wish to proceed?--  
  
Miriam whirled around, looking for the source of the voice. Seeing no one, she called out again.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
--Do you wish to proceed?--  
  
"Uh...that's kind of why I'm here." She said.  
  
--Then step forward.--  
  
Miriam didn't hesitate. She took a step forward. The instant her foot hit the floor, a dull ache shot up her leg. She stopped, reaching down and rubbing her leg to remove the pain.  
  
--Stopping already?--  
  
"No." Miriam said forcefully. "I just got a little cramp in my leg."  
  
--Then take another step.--  
  
Miriam lifted her foot.  
  
--But know that your next step will hurt more than the last. And the step after that will hurt even more. By the time you reach the end of the hall, if you make it that far, the pain you feel will be unimaginable.--  
  
"What is this?"  
  
--You have proven that your wits are sharp. But a true warrior of Gaia must have determination. You must learn to ignore your own pain in order to do what must be done.--  
  
Miriam's breathing was already speeding up. God, she didn't want to walk down this hallway. Tentatively, she took another step forward. As promised, the pain was twice as intense, a sharp pang that shot through her entire lower body.  
  
An idea came to Miriam. If she ran, it would be over sooner. That plan fell apart three steps into its execution. It hurt too much to run. Her entire midsection cramped up, making her double over. Far from running, now she could barely walk. A river of tears ran down her face but she pressed on, forcing herself to put one foot in front of the next. Each step felt like fiery nails being driven through her feet.   
  
Finally, halfway down the hall, Miriam found she couldn't suffer in silence any longer. She screamed. Her scream echoed down the corridor, bouncing off the hard stone walls. Perhaps whoever was testing her would see that as a sign of weakness, but Miriam couldn't make herself care. Besides, the voice had never said she had to be stoic about her pain.  
  
The scream carried her another few feet down the corridor. By now the walls were bright red, and radiated intense heat. It felt like she was inside an oven. Much as she would have liked to lean against the wall for support, she dared not touch it for fear of being burned.  
  
She continued down the corridor, each step an explosion of agony. Then she tripped. One foot caught on the other in mid-step and she fell over. Without thinking, she put her hands out in front of her to stop her fall. She screamed again as the red-hot floor burned her palms. Smoke rose from underneath her hands and the sickening smell of charred flesh filled the hallway.   
  
Miriam forced herself to stand up; forced herself not to look at her ruined hands. The end of the hall was in sight. Just a few more feet and it would all be over. With each step, Miriam felt she would pass out. Somehow, she remained conscious. With one final scream, she fell against the blank wall at the end of the tunnel. The wall gave way and Miriam found herself back outside, breathing in the cool mountain air.  
  
--Well done.-- The voice called out. --You may have what it takes after all.--  
  
Miriam barely heard the compliment. She lay on the ground sobbing, her tears soaking into the earth. Most of the pain was gone, but the palms of her hands still burned. Reluctantly, not really wanting to see, she lifted her hands in front of her face. Both palms were charred completely black. Huge, ugly blisters covered her hands. She could actually see bone poking through the tips of her fingers where skin and muscle had been completely burned away. She suddenly realized that, while her palms felt like they were on fire, she could not feel her fingers at all. The nerves had been burned away.  
  
Miriam turned her head away quickly, fighting her gag reflex. The last thing her hands needed right now was for her to throw up on them. She stood up. She needed a doctor immediately. But she knew the only way out was to complete this test. And that meant facing whatever lay behind the third stone arch.  
  
* * * * *  
  
Miriam didn't even look through the final arch. Whatever was inside, she would have to face it anyway, so she saw no point in frightening herself with it beforehand.  
  
Miriam was acutely aware that she didn't look like any kind of warrior. Her eyes were red and puffy. Her hair was still matted with dried blood. Her hands held out from her sides to avoid rubbing the raw burns on the fabric of her skirt. So she was less than thrilled to find herself in a scaled-down copy of the Roman Coliseum. In the real world, places like this were made for one purpose; fighting. And Miriam didn't feel ready to fight.  
  
"What is it this time?" She asked aloud. She held up her hands. "You expect me to fight with *these*?"  
  
--You fight with whatever you have available.--   
  
"Um...I have nothing!" She yelled. "I couldn't hold a weapon right now even if I had one!"  
  
"Typical." A voice came from across the arena. "Relying on tools to get you through. Did it ever occur to you to rely on yourself?"  
  
For once, Miriam didn't have a comeback. After all, what did you say when your mirror image was taunting you? The girl walking toward Miriam didn't just look like her. She was her. Every detail was a perfect copy. Except, Miriam noted bitterly, the copy's hands were unblemished.  
  
"You're a werewolf." Her clone continued in a 'What kind of idiot are you?' voice. "What could you possibly need a weapon for? Your own body is the single greatest weapon Gaia ever created."  
  
"But...I don't know..."  
  
"Know?" The copy cut her off. "You don't need to know anything! Use your instincts! You have them for a reason, you know!" She dropped into a fighting stance. "Either way, you'd better figure out what to do pretty quick, 'cause I'm not going to go easy on you."  
  
"Wait!" But the copy was already charging. She lashed out with one fist, catching Miriam in her temple. Stars exploded in Miriam's head as she fell to the ground. Her hands skidded across the coarse sand of the arena floor, she screamed as new pain exploded in her palms.   
  
"Heh. Pathetic." Her copy snorted. "You don't even know how to make yourself heal."  
  
Despite her pain, Miriam had had all she could stand of the copy's taunting. She scrambled to her feet and threw a punch of her own, which the doppelganger easily dodged. The copy thrust its leg out, catching Miriam in the stomach. She doubled over, gasping for breath. Again she tried to strike her opponent; and again, she hit nothing but air.  
  
"Don't you get it?" The copy said. "You can't beat me like this. With those hands you can barely make a fist. And forget about hitting anything. You know you could be a lot stronger if you wanted to."  
  
Miriam ignored the clone, trying instead to kick it. Her kick was blocked with painful force.  
  
"Oh, I get it." The copy said. "You still want to be Miss Normal Girl."  
  
"Shut up!" The fight was frustrating enough without the constant taunting.  
  
"That's it isn't it? You don't want to Change because that would mean accepting that you're a predator instead of a human being. Is that it?"  
  
"Of course that's it!" Miriam screamed. "I never asked to be a werewolf! I don't want all this responsibility! I don't want to hurt people! I DON'T WANT TO BE A MONSTER!"  
  
"But that's what you are." The clone said quietly. "You can't change it, any more than you can change your gender, or the color of your hair. It's a part of you."  
  
"No!"  
  
"If you do not accept your destiny, innocent people will suffer. Look." Across the Arena, a huge gate opened up. Something moved in the darkness beyond the gate.  
  
"What is that?"   
  
"A Bane." Her copy answered. "A servant of the Wyrm. It exists to corrupt and pervert everything in its path. The only way to stop it is to kill it. Now you have a decision to make. Which is more important; having a so-called 'normal life', or making sure that thing, and others like it, can never hurt anyone again?"  
  
"It's not that I don't want to help people...it's just..."  
  
"It's alright to be afraid. Fear can keep you alive. But don't be owned by your fear."  
  
Across the arena, the Bane slithered out of the gate into the moonlight. It was, without doubt, the most horrible thing Miriam had ever seen; even the Black Spiral Dancers paled in comparison. The Bane was the size of a small horse. It dragged itself forward with six twisted, malformed legs. Instead of skin, it seemed to be covered with some type of sickly green fungus. The smell that wafted across the arena was suffocating; rotting wood and body odor tinged with sulfur. Miriam recoiled at the horror.  
  
"This is your final task Miriam. This is where you learn who you are. Do you have the courage to face that which terrifies you?" Miriam got the distinct impression that her copy wasn't talking about the Bane. Staring at the hideous creature, Miriam knew her answer. Nothing was more important than destroying the loathsome thing forever.  
  
Reaching into her subconscious, tapping into newly uncovered instincts, Miriam called an image to her mind. A giant, black and silver beast, somewhere between human and wolf. And she knew that the only way to destroy the monster coming towards her was to once again become the monster in her mind's eye.   
  
She let go, concentrating on the image in her head. She felt her body shifting, growing. Her muscles bulged. Her bones crumbled to powder and rebuilt themselves in new shapes. Her clothes seemed to melt into her skin as thick, black and silver fur grew all over her body. In seconds, the transformation was complete.  
  
"Excellent."  
  
She turned to see that her copy had changed as well. She too had assumed the monstrous half-wolf form.   
  
"Very well done." The clone continued. She didn't so much speak as emit a series of animal growls and snarls, but somehow the meaning was as clear to Miriam as if she had spoken plain English. "Give yourself a hand."  
  
Miriam looked down. Amazingly, her burnt hands were almost completely healed. The swollen blisters were gone and smooth, if slightly red, skin had replaced the charred areas of her hands.  
  
"You look surprised." Her copy growled. "In this form you can heal just about anything, with one or two exceptions. Now are you ready to fight?"  
  
Miriam gazed at the approaching Bane. She felt the same burning rage that had filled her when the Black Spiral Dancers threatened her. When she spoke, her words came a snarls and growls, but again, the meaning was clear.  
  
"I'm ready."  
  
* * * * *  
TBC  
* * * * *  
  



End file.
